In 1990 a bright former Loughborough University teaching graduate turned up at Henley RFC preaching ideas so far ahead of their time that everyone said he was bonkers. Seven years later Clive Woodward was coaching England and the world has never quite recovered. To be at Newbury RFC this week, listening to an even brighter former Loughborough student dismissing conventional rugby theory as bunkum was to wonder if history is about to repeat itself.

Do not worry if the name Ben Ryan means nothing yet because it soon will. English rugby is full of coaches boasting bucketloads of caps whose teams display the imagination of muscular plankton. The 34-year-old Ryan, a copper-haired former Cambridge Blue scrum-half whose club career peaked at Nottingham and West Hartlepool, is unashamedly different. On his days off his favourite relaxation is to visit the Tate Modern to gaze at the colourful abstracts of Wassily Kandinsky. One of his sisters is an artist, another was an actress but Ryan's chosen medium is the frequently drab landscape of English backplay.

At Newbury, currently sixth in National League One, they have never known rugby like it: free-scoring, innovative and, for players and fans alike, hugely enjoyable. At this point Premiership coaches will pat young Ryan condescendingly on the head and suggest his creative ideas be judged against tighter defences in deep mid-winter. Or else, as Saracens have just done with Alex Sanderson, hastily promote a retired, in-house international to their coaching staff. Ryan just shrugs. "I don't want to be arrogant but I don't think there's anyone else thinking as freely as I am. Brian Ashton [who takes over at Bath in January] would obviously be an exception but he's 59."

It is not a new lament. The tendency in England has been to fast-track "name" players into top jobs and the national academy is full of them. But, as London Irish's director of rugby Brian Smith warns, Premiership sides who stargaze risk disillusionment: "Coaches who have played top-level rugby enjoy instant credibility but they soon get found out if they're not good enough. If you don't deliver, you don't survive." Ryan, recently linked with the vacancy at Leeds, still nevertheless detects a hint of "them and us" in recruitment policy. "People running clubs have tended to look for a well-known figurehead who will impress their friends in the bar. I think a glass ceiling does exist."

Employing someone of Ryan's restless intelligence, however, barely seems a risk when you meet him. He played mini-rugby at Richmond, went to school in Ealing and Wimbledon and, via Loughborough and Cambridge, ended up at West Hartlepool before knee, back and leg injuries caused him to quit and pursue a day job teaching PE and art at St Edward's, Oxford. He was in charge of the school's first XV during the golden period when the side included England's James Forrester and his Gloucester colleague Jon Goodridge. Ryan was subsequently offered a prestigious housemaster's job; instead he took the riskier option of becoming Newbury's first full-time director of coaching at the age of 32. "Our players were suddenly saying: 'This guy makes sense,'" recalls Newbury's president David Smith.

The Blues' aim is to reach the Premiership within five years but Ryan, who steered them to promotion in his first season, intends to be there sooner. "Without wishing to upset Newbury, I want to get to the Premiership as soon as possible. I want to change the way people think about rugby in England. There needs to be more free thinking. Of the English coaches I've encountered, the only two who have done anything to excite me have been Brian Ashton and Ged Glynn, who coached me at Loughborough and Cambridge. I don't think enough coaches appreciate there's more than one way to skin a cat . . . many still think you've got to be over-structured and Australia, for example, have really suffered from that."

As he starts manoeuvring coffee cups to demonstrate ingenious ways of creating midfield space, the former England Under-21 representative warms persuasively to his theme. He has already consulted the world's foremost gurus; last season he tracked down the former World Cup-winning Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen to a freezing touchline in Middlesex and was rewarded with an impromptu lecture on why depth matters more than width in sophisticated backplay.

He has also met Pierre Villepreux, Eddie Jones and Woodward himself, first at pre-season training at London Irish more than a decade ago. At times he even sounds like Sir Clive: "It's all about looking for edges, moving defenders around, doing what they're not expecting. I've spoken to other directors of rugby who say: 'I wish we could play like that but we don't have the players.' That's a bullshit excuse. They've got the same budget as me. Time and again sides play really good rugby against us but only when they're 20 points down with 10 minutes to go."

Even when Newbury, who visit Pertemps Bees today, recently went four games without a win, Ryan refused to bin his attacking principles. "Ben has a tremendous knowledge of the game and he's not shackled by fear," says his former Loughborough colleague Simon Beatham, now director of rugby at Nottingham. "To break down defences these days you've got to think outside the box and Ben does that. It would be a big call for a Premiership club to put him in charge. But innovation is the key and that isn't dependent on having played international rugby 10 years ago."

There are dangers in garlanding young coaches still learning their trade. The Rugby Football Union, who asked Ryan to coach the English Counties tour of Argentina last summer, have advised him to bide his time. "Kevin Bowring [head of elite coach development] says you need eight years to make your mark but, if you include my school coaching, this is my eighth year," Ryan says. "I've seen too many people go in with great plans which have slowly been chipped away until they conform. If that ever happens to me, I won't be any good. It's that simple.

"I don't want to start arguing with people, I want to re-educate them. I hate it when people refer to our practices as drills . . . those are for staff sergeants. That type of thinking needs to be torn up, thrown out and incinerated. We've won the last World Cup but suddenly we've hit a brick wall." Is the rugby establishment bold enough to embrace a coach who, like Kandinsky, thinks in colour?

Three others to watch

Mike Friday; England sevens coach; Age: 33

Took over as England sevens coach from Joe Lydon. Has been studying for his level four coaching qualification alongside Shaun Edwards, Martin Haag and Ben Ryan, who is a big admirer: "I respect Mike immensely. He's doing a good job with sevens, he's got a good way with players and he wants to play the game the right way."

Toby Booth; London Irish forwards coach; Age: 35

The Exiles director of rugby Brian Smith predicts the former Folkestone and Blackheath player will be knocking England's pack into shape one day. "He's an immense coaching talent and, after this World Cup, I think he'd have a lot to offer the national team. I know England's scrummaging coach Phil Keith-Roach holds him in very high regard."

Paul Grayson; Northampton coach; Age: 34

The former England fly-half is still in his first full season coaching Northampton. Knowledgeable and popular, he is also a goal-kicking specialist. The Saints may be second bottom of the Premiership but Grayson has never lacked tactical nous and has overseen improvements behind the scrum.